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Each month Link Alliance is going to look at some of the more technical terms from the construction and ‘translate’ them into more easy to understand terms. This month we look at the term ‘Rock Blasting’.
Rock Blasting is when small explosives are placed in the earth to break up hard ground conditions. At Mt Eden Station we’ve used Rock Blasting several times over the past year to break up the basalt (hard volcanic rock) from the Maungawhau eruption that occurred over 15,000 years ago. Rock Blasting is the most effective way to fracture the basalt for removal as we dig below ground for the future tunnels and station as it avoids the need for prolonged and disruptive rock-breaking activities.
Rock Blasting is managed by a series of controlled blasts using small explosive charges. Each time we do Rock Blasting, special blasting mats are placed over the charge site to minimise rising dust and prevent any small fragments of flying rock.
Coming up in August, we’ll be performing a series of blasts to support excavation for utilities work on site. It will start from the week beginning the 9th August and is anticipated that this will continue for a 6-week period with approximately one blast per week. To give our community more certainty, when blasting is required, it will always occur at the same time each day - at 10.32am and/or 2.32pm.
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